By Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Airbnb says it will use new methods to spot and block people who try to use the short-term rental service to throw a party.
The company said Tuesday it has introduced technology that examines the would-be renter’s history on Airbnb, how far they live from the home they want to rent, whether they’re renting for a weekday or weekend, and other factors.
Airbnb /zigman2/quotes/222990650/composite ABNB +1.22% said the screening system that it is rolling out for listings in the United States and Canada has been tested since last October in parts of Australia, where it produced a 35% drop in unauthorized parties.
The San Francisco-based company said the technology is designed to prevent a customer’s request for reservation from ever reaching the host of the property involved. Airbnb said people blocked from renting an entire home might be able to book a single room because the host is more likely to be around.
Airbnb has been under growing pressure to clamp down on parties since 2019, when a Halloween house party in a San Francisco suburb ended with five people dead in a shooting.
The following year, Airbnb announced a worldwide party ban at its listings and banned people under 25 from renting an entire house near their home unless they had a record of positive reviews on the site. The party ban was initially cast as a temporary health measure during the pandemic but was made permanent in June.
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